GCHQ

IT TAKES A CERTAIN TYPE OF PERSON TO KEEP OUR COUNTRY SAFE. SOMEONE LIKE YOU.

Software Engineers & Developers Ref. 1017

Department

IT, Science & Technical

Location(s)

Cheltenham, Manchester

Salary

Competitive package based on qualifications and experience

Job description

Do you want to be part of an organisation that uses cutting edge technology, makes a real difference to the UK, provides excellent development opportunities, and gives you the chance to build an exciting, challenging and varied career? If you already work in the technology sector, our organisation has a wide number of technology-related roles available, to which applicants are able to apply at any time.

Our organisation is tasked with protecting the country’s people, businesses and interests in the cyber age. Working with colleagues in MI5, SIS (MI6), the MOD, the National Crime Agency, the police, academia (and many others), we gather and analyse intelligence from digital and telecommunications sources, and ensure that IT networks, systems and data are secured against hackers and other threats. Nowhere else will you be able to apply your technology expertise in such a unique environment, against such a varied set of challenges and with such interesting colleagues!

Our organisation has headquarters in Cheltenham – geographically located within an hour of Bristol and Birmingham – as well as Bude, Harrogate, Lincolnshire, Manchester, London and Scarborough. Despite the (necessary) secrecy around some of what we do, the urgent nature of our mission means there will always be opportunities to work with partners, industry and academia from across the UK, and even to re-locate between offices.

At our organisation we’re proud of our inclusive and supportive working environment that’s designed to encourage open minds and attitudes. Just as we offer a wide range of roles – specialist, technical as well as more general roles (HR, project management, finance, leadership…) - so too do we welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. To do our job – which involves solving some of the hardest technology problems the world faces - we need all talents and we need people who dare to think differently. In return, along with excellent training and development options, we’re committed to providing a healthy work/life balance that enables you to perform to the best of our ability.

THE ROLE

Our organisation has dozens of software teams working with a wide variety of technologies on a wide variety of complex business problems. We are looking for experienced and talented engineers to join us. We also have opportunities for recent technical graduates.

Due to the diversity of our work, there is no one ‘right fit’ for our staff. We are committed to growing and developing our engineers, and this includes when you join us. We expect our engineers to have a passion for technology, an ability to solve technical problems, and an ambition to grow and develop expertise as a software engineer. When you join us, we will work out the training and development you require to help you succeed. For some people, that may just be exposure to our organisation’s unique problems; but others may require more specific training to build software skills.

So, what could you expect to be doing? All our software engineers are competent developers and coders. They are able to work in self-organising Agile teams, and can work in a number of technologies and languages. For example, most people are proficient in at least one of Java, C++ or C, but we also use javascript (and many of its various frameworks), perl, python and some C#. For data storage and analysis, we are increasingly using cloud technologies and distributed programming such as Hadoop, NoSQL and other big data technologies, but also use Mongo, Oracle and MySQL.

We work across the software lifecycle and while we have some dedicated specialists, many of our engineers are competent business analysts, user experience designers, requirements engineers, modellers, architects, testers, supporters and scrum masters. We encourage our engineers to become experts in those areas too (including supporting professional accreditation, conference attendance, diplomas, etc), but at their core, they remain software engineers committed to helping their team deliver products our customers need.

Increasingly, our teams apply agile methods such as Scrum or Kanban, and we also have well-established Systems Engineering and project and programme management approaches that provide structure for the largest and most complicated problems. We encourage professional development, have IET accreditation for our development schemes, and run internal schemes to help you reach Chartered Engineer or Chartered IP Professional.

The types of product we build also varies significantly! Some examples might be:

• High speed, near-real time processing systems that require a deep understanding of telecommunications protocols and IP networking; • Command and control systems with RESTful interfaces, complex business logic and intuitive user interfaces; • Large scale elastic search solutions, with challenging analytic requirements and high volumes;• Rapid reaction projects working closely with intelligence and security analysts to create prototypes and products that make their lives easier;• High assurance, business critical systems that implement precise business logic;• Analytic frameworks that abstract complex storage and processing capability to allow processing or analytic components to be added by a wide range of less technical developers;• Mixed technology solutions with hardware, firmware, embedded software and system interfaces;• Data conversion and processing systems with complex security and data assurance requirements, with deep integration into IP networks and commercial components;

REQUIREMENTS FOR THESE ROLES

From the previous descriptions, you should be able to see that our engineers use a number of implementation technologies and paradigms; and require domain knowledge of a range of technical and business domains. We don’t expect you to have all that knowledge or experience when you start (though, it would be lovely if you did).

But we do expect you to be able to show evidence of:

• Understanding complex technical or business problems, and developing solutions for them; • Applying a creative approach to solving problems;• Learning new technologies, approaches and contexts;• A passion for the kinds of work we do and the ways that we do it; and• Proven expertise in at least one of the technologies, paradigms, methods or skills mentioned above.

We will also be looking for evidence of:

• Working well in small, agile teams• The ability to communicate with others, including both technical and non-technical stakeholders• The ability to produce high quality, sustainable output• Assessing information and making decisions • Identifying errors and producing accurate output

To apply for this role you will need to have either a) relevant work experience or b) be a current or recent graduate (you will need to have or expect to achieve a minimum 2:2 degree in a relevant STEM subject e.g., Physics, Science, Computer Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, Statistics, Electronics or Computer Linguists).

SALARY

Competitive package based on qualification and experience

LOCATION

Manchester, Cheltenham (All sites are within 30 mile radius of the location centre).

Please note that there may not be vacancies at every location, and it may not be possible to offer a position at any of your selected locations.

INTERVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

Following initial eligibility and technical sifts, the recruitment process will comprise a competency-based interview with technical staff and members of our HR department.